Why Are You Awesome

Orlando, FL (WiredPRNews.com) A meeting with Robert Urban and Shawn Vincent, founders of the Orlando-based digital marketing firm PaperBoat Media, is a bit like being in the vortex of an idea tornado. In the first five minutes you’re likely to have seen photos of their children, heard their opinion on the latest technology news (on this day it was Microsoft’s announced acquisition of Skype), and been given a glimpse of their vision of the digital future (hint: evil robots do not take over the Earth). Then from out of the blue, you’ll be asked a question that you may be unprepared for: Why are you awesome?

PaperBoat’s philosophy is that if a business is not great at what they do — if they are not “awesome” — then a digital marketing campaign will do nothing more amplify those shortcomings. However, for a company that is great and has loyal customers, digital marketing will put a blazing spotlight on what they do well.

That’s why they started the website WhyAreYouAwesome.com. The website is a series of profiles on local business, featuring the qualities that make the business owners unique. Urban says, “WhyAreYouAwesome.com gives us a chance to highlight companies that do great work but haven’t put themselves out there and risk getting lost in the crowd.”

It’s not a selfless effort. Vincent admits that many of the companies featured are businesses PaperBoat would like to do business with, but he says, “whether the companies we feature do business with us or not doesn’t matter; WhyAreYouAwesome.com is a fundamental expression of our core values: be awesome, tell the world about it, and share with your friends. It shows we practice what we preach.”

Since they started asking the question, they have made a remarkable discovery: it is easier for most business owners to list their weakness than explain why their awesome. Urban says, “they have been focused on their challenges for so long they have forgotten to take a step back and focus on what they do well.”

However, with a couple well-targeted questions Urban and Vincent are able to uncover the spark that caused their subjects to start their business in the first place. Vincent says, “Most business are awesome, but the owners are too close to see the big picture. We are able to take a step back, take an outsider’s view.”

When pressed to explain why PaperBoat Media is awesome, here is what they had to say, “Because we’ll make you fall in love with your business again, we’ll help you rediscover your best traits, and we’ll show you how to share that with the world.”

While Urban and Vincent have been active in the digital marketing world for years, PaperBoat Media is their first professional collaboration. PaperBoat officially launched in May, and seeks to earn a place with other respected Central Florida-based digital agencies such as Mindcomet, Engauge, Rise, and Echo Interactive. PaperBoat’s hallmark is integrating all aspects of digital marketing with social customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Urban notes that any digital marketing plan that doesn’t track and measure the effect on the bottom line is doomed for failure, and for most second stage companies, a CRM is the best way to do that.